My Ugly Duckling
by Great Angemon
Summary: When Link wakes up, he doesn't expect his life to be thrown suddenly into chaos. But then he sees Zelda with a kid, a rather ugly child, and everything gets thrown upside-down. And he discovers the meaning of the words, True-love.
1. Chapter 1

My Ugly Duckling

Part One

By GreatAngemon

My name is Link. I used to be an ordinary man. I had the same routine every day. I'd wake up, take a shower, grab a cup of coffee to go with my breakfast, and go to work.

After work, I'd go to the bar with my buddies, and head home. But that changed one day.

I was buying my breakfast at the fast food place that I live near. One of my friends, Zelda, was there. I had met her there one day while I'd been running late, and I was used to what she usually looked like. She usually had a drab grey pantsuit on, and was carrying a black leather briefcase.

I was not at all expecting to see her with a small child in her arms. "Zel?" I ask. "Is that you?"

She turns around and suddenly smiles. "Link," she says, hurrying over to me. "Can you help me?"

"Uh, sure." She awkwardly drops the kid into my arms.

"I'll be right back," she says as I adjust the kid in my arms.

"Wait, Zelda!" I cry as she runs towards the bathroom. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?" The child looked up at me, her brown eyes oddly misshapen. One is half closed, and it looked like she couldn't open it any further, and the other was pale and milky.

In fact, her whole face was odd. The left side of her lip was pulled up, as though she were trying to show me her tooth, which was black. Her nose looks like it has been broken repeatedly. Suddenly, Zelda reappears at my side.

"Thank you, Link." She takes the kid out of my arms. "Do you want to have breakfast with us?"

I looked down at her. She wasn't her usual, neatly dressed, perfectly manicured self. She was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a baggy tee shirt. Her usually perfect hair was thrown into a messy ponytail, and individual hairs stuck out from it.

"Sure." I follow her to a table, and sit down opposite her. "So, Zelda," I say, trying to make conversation, "Who's you're friend?"

She looks confused by the question, but then her mouth forms into an "oh" of understanding. "Link, this is my daughter, Elisa." The little girl looks up at me with her misshapen eyes and smiles. Or at least her grimace disappears.

"I didn't know you had a kid," I say.

Zelda half smiles at me, then at Elisa. "Her _dad_ told me he couldn't do it anymore." The way she said 'dad' told me that she disliked the person. "He lives in Castle Town, and he was taking care of Elisa. Then, suddenly, he drops by, gives her to me, and says he can't stand taking care of her." She covers Elisa's ears, and adds, "He said he could barely look at her, because she's so ugly."

I stare at Zelda, and then say, "And you liked him enough to have a kid with him?"

She gives me a stern glare. "That was eight years ago. He was different then. Or, at least, I thought he was.

"His name was Ganondorf. He was a charming lawyer at a small firm I worked at. One day, he asked me out on a date. I said yes. He was such a gentleman. Then, we got so drunk one night, and…" she gestured toward Elisa. "A few days later, I told him I was pregnant.

"Well, after Elisa was born, he took care of her. I moved out here, and that was that. Until yesterday."

"That's a pretty crummy thing to happen to you," I say. "Can I do anything to help you?"

She smiles. "If there is, I'll let you know."

A few days later, I get a call on my phone. "Link, can you come over right away?"

"Yeah, I'll be over in five." I hurry to get dressed and I'm out the door in five minutes. In another five, I'm at Zelda's condo.

As I rush in, I see Elisa playing with a small train set on the floor. Zelda walks out of her room, putting on a pair of earrings, and sees me. "Link," she sighs, "Thank you so much for coming over."

"What's the problem?"

"I just got called in, and I need to get to the office right away. Something went wrong with one of my clients." She leans down, picks up her briefcase, and says, "Can you watch Elisa for me? I'll be back as soon as I can."

She leans down next to Elisa, gives her a quick kiss, and is out the door without letting me get a word in.

I stand dumbfounded for a moment, and only vaguely realize that Zelda had uttered a hasty, "Goodbye," and shut the door behind her. Suddenly, I turn and see her car backing out of the driveway.

"Wait, Zelda!" I call, but to no avail. Then I turn to the girl, Elisa. She's looking up at me from her seat on the floor. Then she stands up, walks over to me and pulls on my pants leg.

"I'm hungwy," she says. I blanch.

"Uh, what do you want?"

She ponders my question for a moment, and then; "Macawoni and teese." Clearly she has a speech impediment, I realize as she says it.

"Okay, then let's go make some," I say, picking her up. She smiles, a rather unpleasant sight, as it throws her blackened tooth into further prominence. I carry her into the kitchen, and set her down on the counter. "Sit tight," I say, and she nods.

Then I begin searching the cupboards, and eventually emerge with a saucepan and a box on macaroni and cheese. When I turn around and say, "Ready?", I see Elisa sitting right next to the sink, playing with the hot and cold water knobs. "Hey now," I say, throwing the saucepan under the stream of water. "What do you think you're doing?"

She giggles and points at the water. "Funny," she says, and I notice that the pot was filled with water. Or, to be more precise, was overflowing. I grab the knobs and turn them off. Then, after pouring out some of the water, I put the pan on the stove and turn it on.

"You sure do like making trouble," I say, picking Elisa up again. She giggles as I set her down in a chair at the table. "Wait here." I hurry into the living room, grab her toy train off the floor, then rush back. She's still sitting in the chair, playfully giggling as I struggle with the train.

I set the toy in front of her on the table and say, "Play", with as much conviction as I can muster. But she takes up the toy and starts rolling it around on the table's surface.

I walk back over to the stove and, since the water's boiling, throw the noodles in. Then I go over and sit next to Elisa at the table. She's still playing happily with her toy. I grab it from her, and then start rolling it around myself, making train noises as I do.

"Givee," she exclaims, but I keep it just out of her reach of her. "Givee back!" she climbs onto the table and crawls over, grabbing my wrist to hold my arm still. Then, just as she seizes the train back, I grab her up in my arms and begin tickling her. She laughs, and the train falls to the floor.

"Sdop," she squeaks through her laughs. "Sdop." I stop tickling her, but she keeps breathing hard for a minute. Then she asks me a question that stops my heart. "Awe you my new daddy?"

I set her down in her chair, then sit down myself. She stares quizzically at me, while I contemplate her question. Then, just as I'm about to answer, the pot of water froths over, and I rush to dump it out into a strainer.

I open the fridge, and pull out the milk and butter. As I finish making the macaroni, Elisa plays with her train, which she had picked up off the floor. After I mix in the cheese, milk and butter, I split the noodles between two bowls. Then I motion for her to follow me, and lead her out into the living room.

We sit down on the couch, and I pull the coffee table nearer, and set the bowls down. Then I flip the television on "What do you want to watch?" I ask her.

Elisa takes the remote from me, and presses the buttons. The TV turns from a boring news program to a colorfully animated program. I recognize it as a movie called The Adventures of the Four Swords. She claps happily, the grabs the spoon in her bowl. We sit there, watching the movie, while she eats her food.

After about another hour, Zelda gets back, just as the movie ends. Elisa jumps off the couch and runs to her mother, who picks her up happily and kisses her on her cheek.

"Mommy!" Elisa says happily. Then she points at me. "He nice. I yike him."

Zelda smiles. Then she looks at her watch and says, "Looks like it's time for you to go to bed." Elisa groans, but clings to her mother's neck ash Zelda carries her up the stairs. A few minutes later, Zelda comes back down. She walks over to me, and, looking embarrassed, says, "She wants you to go up and give her a goodnight kiss."

I smile, then say, "I'll be back down in a few minutes." She smiles. I climb up the stairs, then turn into the room with the open door. On the small bed is Elisa, wearing a pair of pink pajamas. I sit down on the edge of her bed.

She crawls out from under the covers, and wraps her arms around my neck. "Night-night, mitter."

I wrap one of my arms around her waist and give her a small kiss on her cheek, just below her eye. She kisses me as well, then climbs back under her blanket.

I walk back down the stairs, and see Zelda picking up. "Can I help?" I ask, but she shakes her head.

"You've done enough," she says. I follow her into the kitchen.

"You know, Elisa asked me if I'm her new daddy," I say. Zelda stops suddenly.

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything."

Zelda nods. "Thanks for coming over, Link. I really appreciate it."

"No problem, Zelda." I smile warmly, then add, "Anytime you need a babysitter, you can call me. I'll come over anytime." She smiles.

"Thank you."


	2. Chapter 2

My Ugly Duckling

Part Two

By GreatAngemon

I grab the doorknob to Zelda's condo, and twist it. The door opens, and I see Elisa sitting on the floor, playing with a couple of dolls. "I'm back!" I call. She looks up and smiles.

"Yink!" She rushes off the floor and jumps on me. I grab her and hold her in one of my arms. "Whacha get?" she asks.

I open the paper sack I'm carrying in my other arm and the delicious aroma of Chinese food pours over her. "Mmm…" she moans. "Yet's eat."

"Not yet," I say, setting her down. "We have to wait for your mom." We walk out into the kitchen, and I set the paper sack down and begin emptying it. Elisa keeps reaching up, trying to steal something while I'm not looking.

After a few minutes, Zelda finally walks through the door. She walks over to the counter and looks at the food. "Kung-pao chicken?" I nod. "Let's eat."

I grab some plates out of the cupboard and we all sit down at the table. Then I pull the chicken towards myself, and put some on two of the plates. I hand one to Elisa, who looks delighted. "Yummy!"She happily stabs a piece of chicken with her fork and sticks it into her mouth.

Zelda and I each grab a pair of chopsticks from the bag. As we eat the chicken, Elisa looks up at us, then says, "Why you ead wif sticks?"

Zelda and I glance at each other, smiling, and I say, "Do you want to try eating with the chopsticks?" I ask. She nods enthusiastically. "Alright, here." I hand her a pair of wrapped chopsticks.

Her smile quickly vanishes."How do I use dem?" she asks. I laugh, then move around behind her. I wrap my arms around her and help her unwrap them. Then I grab her right hand in mine, and put the sticks between her fingers.

I help her move the sticks between her fingers, and pick up a piece of chicken. She moves the chicken up to her mouth, looking proud of herself. "Loog mommy. I did id."

Zelda smiles. "Good job, sweetheart." I go back over to my seat, snap a piece of chicken up in my chopsticks, and throw it in my mouth. A moment later I turn and see Elisa stabbing her chicken on the end of her chopsticks.

After dinner, I offer to help clean, but Zelda shoos me into the living room with Elisa, and I sit on the couch while Elisa plays with her train. When Zelda comes out of the kitchen, she's on the phone, looking unhappy.

She tosses the phone onto the coffee table, and I say, "What's wrong?"

She says, "I have to go to work tomorrow. I just remembered, and I tried to get the usual babysitter, but she said she can't, so I guess she'll have to come with me."

Looking at Elisa, who doesn't seem to have heard anything, I say, "If you want, I can watch her tomorrow."

"Really?" She looks relieved. "Thanks Link. Thank you so much."

The next day I go straight to Zelda's condo at eight o'clock. When she answers the door, I see her in her usual dress of a grey pantsuit. "Thanks so much," she says, as she tries to put an earring in. "She's still asleep, but you can hang out down here till she wakes up."

"Okay," I say. "What about when she wakes up? What do I feed her?"

"There's cereal in the cupboard, if you want to go for something easy, or there're eggs in the fridge. Just do whatever you want." She grabs her briefcase off the floor. "I gotta go. Tell Elisa I say good morning."

She hurries out the door with me uttering a hasty, "goodbye", and then the door shuts. I throw myself onto the couch, flip on the TV, and watch whatever random show happens to be on.

Suddenly I find something heavy falling on my chest. I crack my eyes open, and I see Elisa sitting on me. "Good mowning, Yink," she says happily.

"Hey, Elisa," I groan. "What time is it?" She shrugs. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Donuts!" she exclaims. "I wand donuts!" I sit up, throwing her backwards onto the couch cushion.

"Alright, donuts." Then I peer down at her. "Don't you need to take a bath, or a shower, or anything." She smiles, then stands and rushes to the stairs.

"I'll be bag in five minuds." And she rushes up the stairs. I grab my bag, which I'd thrown down next to the couch, and pull out a breath mint. A few minutes later Elisa rushes down the stairs, looking awake, and wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, instead of her footie pajamas.

"Wedy!" she calls. I grab her hand, and we head out to my car. She sits in the back passenger-side seat, and I drive us downtown to one of my favorite bakeries. We head inside. When we get to the counter, my friend Peatrice smiles at me.

"Heeeey, Link," she says, batting her eyelashes at me. "What can I get for you, handsome?"

"I'll have a chocolate muffin," I say, "and-" I look at Elisa.

"I wand a donut. And choglad milg."

Peatrice looks at both of us, then says, "Link, can I talk to you?"

"Hey, Elisa, how about you go sit at that table," I say, pointing at a table that I can see easily. She runs over there, and I turn back to Peatrice. "What's up?"

"I didn't know you had a sister," she says.

"I don't."

"She's not your daughter, is she!" she exclaims.

"Hardly. I'm babysitting for a friend."

"Oh." She looks thoughtful for a moment, then says, well, I still need you to pay. That'll be nine-fifty." I give her a yellow rupee, then head over to the table.

When our food arrives, I take a bite into my warm muffin, savoring the flavor, but Elisa immediately stuffs half of her donut into her mouth. "Id good," she says through a crammed mouth. I laugh.

"I'm glad," I say, tussling her hair. We finish our food, and head out the door. "What do you want to do now?" I ask her.

"Cad we go do da pawk?"

"Alright." We hop into my car, and five minutes later we're at the park. "Have at it," I say, helping her out of the car, and letting her run towards the jungle gym. She keeps calling me, wanting me to watch her playing, and I finally find an empty seat on one of the benches. All the others were taken by mothers who were watching their own children.

One of them, a cute redhead, smiles at me. "Which one's yours?" she asks.

"None of them," I say quickly. "I'm babysitting for a friend. Her," I add, pointing at Elisa.

"Oh, so _you're _Elisa's friend?"

"I suppose I am that, yeah." I turn my eyes off of Elisa. "I'm Link."

"Malon. I'm Zelda's friend. That one's mine," she says, pointing to a little girl that looks just like her. Both Malon's daughter and Elisa run over.

"Mommy," the redheaded child says. "Look! Look what I finded!" and she holds out her hand. Inside is a sparkly bug.

"Pretty," Malon says. "Now how about you go let it go."

"Okay." She runs off.

"Yink, yook!" Elisa says, pointing at the lake in the middle of the park. There are several ducks swimming on it's surface. "Yet's go yook!" she exclaims, grabbing my hand and pulling me forward.

"Nice to meet you," I say, waving to Malon. She smiles. Elisa and I walk down the hill, toward the bank of the lake. One of the ducks waddles out of the water.

"Quack!" it honks. Elisa giggles, and walks slowly closer to it.

It just stares at her, until she gets about a foot away, and says, "Quack!" The bird flies away, startled.

Elisa giggles as she runs back to me. "Quack!" she keeps saying. "Quack!"

"Careful, or people'll think you're crazy," I tease. She giggles. "Well, we'd better get you back home now, my little duck. Come on." I pick her up and tickle her all the way back up to the car. Then we drive back to Zelda's condo. When we get back, Zelda's sitting at the kitchen table.

"Mommy!" Elisa runs into a hug.

"Hey sweetie," Zelda says. She looks up at me. "She wasn't too much to handle was she?"

"Nah," I say, "she was perfect." Zelda smiles. "I guess I'll go home now." I turn to walk out the door, but stop when I feel Elisa wrap her arms around me.

"Bye-bye, Yink," she says. I kneel down and give her a hug back.

"I'll see you later, little duck." She giggles again and kisses me on the cheek. I distinctly hear Zelda say, as I close the door behind me, "Little duck?"

**End chapter two.**


	3. Chapter 3

My Ugly Duckling

Chapter Three

By GreatAngemon

Grabbing my bag, I head out the door. Punching a few numbers into my cell, I throw the device between my shoulder and my ear. "Zel?" I say when I hear an answer on the other side.

"Oh, hey Link."

"I'll be over in a minute. I'm running kinda late."

"Okay," she says. "We'll wait until you get-"

"Yink?" another voice says. "Yink, is dat you?"

"What's up, sweetheart?" I say to Elisa.

"Whewe awe you?"

"On my way." A click and buzz meet my words, and I know that she's satisfied with my answer. Ten minutes later, I'm pulling into Zelda's driveway. As I get out of the car, I realize that there's an unfamiliar car parked in the street. It's a dark black sedan with garbage piled up in the backseat.

I go up to the door and knock. It takes a minute, but then Elisa opens the door. "Yink!" she exclaims. She grabs my hand and pulls me into the living room. Sitting on the couch, I see Zelda with a man I've never seen before.

He has red hair, tan skin, a sharp nose, and dark red eyes. "Link," Zelda says. "Hi." I notice that she looks uncomfortable. I sit down on one of the chairs, and Elisa happily sits on my lap.

"Who's this?" I ask.

"Oh, right," Zelda says, looking embarrassed. "Link, this is Ganondorf, my ex-boyfriend. He's also-"

"My daddy," Elisa says.

"Oh." I stare at the man, who glares angrily back at me. "Hi, I'm Link." I reach out to shake the man's hand.

He grips my hand harder than necessary, and says, "Hello," rather stiffly. "I hear you've been taking care of my little girl?"

"Uh, sort of. I've been like her babysitter." I feel sort of embarrassed admitting it, but it's the truth.

"Hmph." He turns to Zelda and says, "You didn't mention that her babysitter is a guy."

"I didn't think it was important."

He glares at her, then says, "Elisa, come on. We're going home. Go get your stuff"

Elisa looks shocked. "No! I want to stay with mommy and Yink!" I groan as she says that. It's clear to me that Ganondorf is jealous of my relationship with Zelda.

"Go!" Elisa crawls off of my lap and walks up the stairs slowly. Ganondorf turns to me. "I want you to stay away from my family. That means Zelda, too." His voice is low and deadly, and it makes me want to agree to anything he says. But he can't get away with intimidating me like that.

"Zelda's my friend. If I want to see her, I will," I say.

"Is that how you feel, Zelda?" he asks her. She nods. "Then you won't be seeing Elisa anytime soon."

"You can't keep her away from me!" Zelda says. "She's _my _daughter too!"

Ganondorf looks slightly amused. "Take me to court, then." His voice is gloating, like he knows that Zelda won't do it.

A minute later, Elisa comes downstairs with a little suitcase on wheels. She heads for the door, but then runs to Zelda. "I don'd wanna go!" she cries, tears glittering down her face. "I wanna sday wif you and Yink!"

Zelda kneels down and caresses her daughter's hair, whispering words of comfort. "It's alright, sweetie. I'll be able to see you soon."

"Bud I don'd wanna!" Then she runs over and hugs me. "Yink, I don'd wanna go!"

I get up off the chair and kneel down beside her, wrapping her in a hug. "It's okay. When you come over here, I promise I'll visit." She sniffles and looks into my eyes. "Hey," I whisper, "give me a pretty smile." She doesn't move her mouth at all, so I tickle her quickly beneath the ribs. She giggles. "There's my little duck," I say.

She kisses me on the cheek and then heads over to get her suitcase, which had fallen, forgotten on the floor. "Bye," she says, and walks out the door.

Ganondorf smiles nastily, then follows behind her without a word. I look at Zelda as I shut the door. She's crying. I run over to her side and hug her.

Her body is racked with sobs and she cries on my shoulder for a few minutes before pulling herself together. "Well," she says, her voice hoarse, "that's that, I guess."

"What are you talking about?"

"He's got Elisa. I'm not getting her back."

"You're just giving up?" I ask incredulously. "You're just giving up on your daughter?"

"You don't know Ganondorf," she whispers. "He's the best lawyer I've ever met. He's never lost a case. I don't stand a chance."

"But you have to at least try!"

She shakes her head. "Go home, Link. There's nothing either of us can do."

I grab my bag as I head out the door and hurry to my car. When I get to my usual fast food restaurant for breakfast, I see Zelda standing in line, wearing a grey suit. "Hey Zel," I say. She spins around.

"Oh, Link. Hi," she says. Her face is tight with emotion, and I see that her usually perfect hair is messy and out of place.

"Do you need to talk?" She shakes her head. "Are you sure?"

She begins to nod, then says, "Yeah. Let's talk." We wait in line for a few minutes, until we get to the front. I order two coffees and breakfast sandwiches. Zelda goes to sit at a table while I wait for our order. When I sit across the table from her, I hand her a coffee and a sandwich.

"So what's up?" I ask.

"I miss her, Link," she says. "I didn't think it was possible for me to miss her this much. It didn't hurt like this when I left all that time ago, when I moved here. But now…"

I nod. "I get it. I never wanted to have kids. I didn't really even like them. But now that I've been with Elisa, it's like my eyes were opened."

"Tell me what to do, Link," she says. "Tell me what to do. I need her back."

"Take Ganondorf to court!" I say exasperatedly. "That's the only way you can get her back. File a Complaint for Custody when you get to work."

She looks sunned by my knowledge of the law, but says, "I can't win in a trial against him, though. He's too good."

"You can't say that!" If you're going to get her back, you need to think you can win!" All the people in the building are staring at us, but I ignore them. "Look, once you file a petition, it'll be looked at right away, because you're a lawyer. You'll be given priority. That's how our law system works, right?" She nods.

"After you file the complaint, you'll be sent to meet with a Court Master. He'll be in charge of your trial. He decides whether you have a case in court, or if you need to settle it by yourselves. You just need to make sure that he sees you should go to court." I take a sip of my coffee and shudder. I rip open a few packets of sugar and pour them in.

"Tell him about Ganondorf's flaws. Tell him why Ganondorf shouldn't be allowed to keep Elisa. Do whatever you can. Just make sure you get to court."

"Why do I need to get to court?"

"Because I can only win you this case as your lawyer if you go to court. At the Master's Conference, it's all up to you."

"You're going to… what?"

"I'm going to represent you in court. I'm going to be your lawyer." I take another sip of my coffee, and smile at Zelda's look of utter confusion.

"I didn't know you were a lawyer."

"I majored in law. Then I went back to school and majored in business." I grin and take a bite of my sandwich. "Look, Zel. You want her back, right?" She nods. "File the complaint as soon as you get to work. First thing. Your hearing with the Master will be in a day or two. If you can get the case into court, you're home free."

She smiles. "Thank you, Link." Then she looks at her watch. "I'm late for work. I'll call you when I file the complaint, okay?"

"Sounds good." She hurries out the door. As I finish my breakfast, I think about what I'd just told her. 'If you can get the case into court, you're home free.'

'_I sure hope so,' _I think, swallowing the last of my sandwich. '_I sure hope so.'_

A few hours liter I pick up my cell phone during a conference. It had just made a loud noise as it vibrated on the table, and everyone was staring at me. I look at the name on the screen. "I'll be right back," I say, hitting the answer button.

I rush into the hallway, and quickly say, "Hello?"

"Link?"

"Zel, did you do it?"

"Yeah. I did it, just now." Her voice is ragged with anxiety. "Link, I'm scared I'll never see her again. What if we lose?"

"Don't worry about that. When's the Master's Conference?"

"Tomorrow at eight a.m. I'll tell you what happens."

"Alright. Thanks, Zelda." I hang up the phone. '_Just wait, little duck. We'll get you back._'

**End Chapter Three**


	4. Chapter 4

My Ugly Duckling

Part Four

By GreatAngemon

"Then what?" Zelda asks, looking at our papers strewn over the table top.

"Then what, what?" I ask back.

"The hearing. After the hearing, then what?"

I smile. "After the hearing, if you play your cards right, there'll be a trial. I'll call character witnesses who'll say you'll make a great mother. Then we also have our secret weapons.

"Our secret weapons?"

"One of them is a secret that I can't tell you. The other is that we have witnesses that'll say he's an unfit parent. A fair defense, seeing as I'm sure that's his own case." I stare at her intently, and say, "We _do_ have witnesses who'll say he's an unfit parent, right?"

She looks down at her lap. "I've been looking, like you said, but nobody wants to go against him. He's a pretty important character in Castle Town. He scares them." She sighs.

"Aren't there any people who knew about your relationship?" I ask. She nods.

"Plenty. Anju, his personal assistant, but she won't testify against him. She's in love with him. Telma was the secretary at the firm we worked at, but she thinks he's the best lawyer ever, and wouldn't say anything to ruin his reputation.

"Our boss, Abe, was the owner of the firm. He didn't like that we were seeing each other, but he promised he wouldn't tell anyone, and he won't say anything that'd hurt me or my reputation. I was his protégé, or something." She smiles, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"The only other I can think of is my mother. She never liked him, and… I haven't exactly told her that we had a kid together."

"That could be problematic," I say. "She needs to know beforehand, or else she'll be guilty of perjury when she says she knew."

"I'll call her later." She looks thoughtfully at her sandwich, then says, "Can you tell me what'll happen at the Masters Conference?"

"The court appointed master will ask you and Ganondorf questions, assessing whether either of you are less fit to be a parent. If he determines one of you superior as a fit parent, he'll list the trial as a non-emergency, and your case will be put on the back burner, and you won't go to court for about another month. You need to make it seem like you're both fit parents when you're at the hearing. I can't win you full custody there, but I can at court.

"He'll ask questions about living conditions and what type of food you serve her. Then he'll ask you about your work habits, and what you do with her while you're at work. He'll also ask for things like her favorite food and color."

"What?" Zelda asks incredulously.

"That way he can gauge how well each of you knows her. He can't make a case based on that, but it'll help."

"How do you know all this?"

"That's my secret." I grab a sandwich off the tray she'd brought out of the kitchen and take a bite. "Now, you and I will need to practice running through a cross-examination."

"I know how it works-"

"I know you do. You've been on my side plenty of times, I know, but have you ever been on the other side? Have you ever been cross-exmined?" She shakes her head. "I didn't think so. It's a completely different process from where you'll be sitting. Your mind will freeze up. You'll be terrified of losing Elisa. But you can't be scared. You need to show that you're in control. Make it seem like you expected anything that happens, to have happened. Better, make it seem like you wanted it to happen.

"Make them know you can win." I grab my briefcase off the floor next to my chair. "I'll see you in three days, after your hearing. Call me as soon as it's over."

"I will." She walks with me to the door, then says, as I leave, "Link, can you promise me that we'll win?'

I shake my head. "I can't promise we'll win. I do promise that I'll do my best to get Elisa back. I promise that I'll do my best to make sure we win." She smiles, and I add, "I need to go. I have some witnesses of my own I need to find."

I ring the buzzer of a small apartment complex. A moment later, a voice asks from the speaker, "Hello? Who's there?"

"My name's Link. I called you earlier, about the upcoming trial." The lock clicks.

"Come on up. Floor three, room four." I open the door and head up the stairs. When I reach the third floor, I see a young woman standing outside a door. When I walk up to her, she smiles. "Hi, Link. I'm Anju, Ganondorf's assistant at the firm."

"Hello Anju," I say, shaking her hand. "Can I come in?"

"Yes, please do." She leads me into the apartment, and sits down in a chair. "How can I help you, Link?" she asks.

"I don't know if you've heard," I say, "but your boss, Ganondorf, is going to court against your old colleague, Zelda Royale."

"Yes, I did hear something about that."

"Do you know what it's about?"

"I assumed it was just another case they had to fight against each other," she says. "Was I wrong?"

"A little bit. This case is being taken to family court."

"Ganondorf's trying to split up a family?" she asks, looking worried. "I can't believe he'd do anything that would hurt a family."

"Zelda told me that you're in love with Ganondorf. Is that true?"

She looks nervous, but nods. "I'm really sorry to have to say this, but Ganondorf's not just trying to split up a family. He's trying to take a child away from her mother. His own child, away from Zelda, in fact."

"What? Ganondorf and Zelda had a child together? I knew they had been seeing each other a few years ago, but I didn't know they had a kid." Her face is pale, and she seems disoriented at the news.

"Can I get you anything?" I ask, worried about her. "A glass of water?"

"Water-water would be nice," she whispers. I hurry into the kitchen and search the cupboards for a glass. When I find it, I fill it with water and hand it to Anju.

As she sips the water, I say, "So, Ganondorf's never brought Elisa in? Not even once?"

"No. He doesn't act like a father either. He's always yelling. I… I can only imagine what he's like at home." She seems startled, and adds, "Actually, now that I think about it, he did bring in a little girl, once. But he told me that he was watching her for his sister, Nabooru."

"His sister, huh?" I say, taking a notebook out of my pocket. "Can you give me her address?" Then I glance at my watch. "I'm sorry. I've taken too much of your time. I'll leave now." She hands me a business card with the name, Nabooru Wildern.

At the door, I say, "Can I ask you to please be a character witness for Zelda's side?"

"What will I have to do?"

"Just tell the court that you think she'd be a good mother I won't ask you to testify against Ganondorf, if you don't want to."

"I will, if you need me to." Her face is solemn. "Ganondorf has been lying to me, and everyone, for how long now? Seven years? Eight? He betrayed me. I'll do anything to help you. I promise."

I put my car into park in Nabooru Wildern's driveway, and step out. Just then, a deep olive skinned woman walks out of the house. She's carrying a baby in her arms. "Oh, hello," she says. "Are you here to see Carpetto?"

"No, I'm actually here to see you. You are Nabooru Wildern, right?"

"Yeah, I'm Nabooru." She peers down at me. It suddenly strikes me just how tall she is. She stands a foot taller than me. "What do you need? I'm kind of in a hurry."

"It's about Ganondorf."

She looks stunned. Then, pulling a phone out of her pocket, she says, "Come inside." As we walk, she punches a few numbers in. "Hello… yeah, I won't be coming in today… it's about my brother."

We head into the living room, where we sit down. "How can I help you?"

"Did you know that your brother is going to court for the custody of a child?"

"Yes, I do know that."

"Did you know it was his child?"

"Yeah. He has me babysit for him sometimes."

"Every day, while he's at work?" I ask.

"Hardly. I have to work too. My husband, Carpetto, is a merchant, but, well, he's not that great. His shop is kind of secluded, and he doesn't have a lot of business."

"What does he do with Elisa when you don't babysit?"

"I don't know. I've never asked. But she seems kind of lonely, like she stays home a lot. She doesn't really talk. She just sits there."

"Hmmm…" Then her phone rings. She looks helplessly over at the phone, so I say, "I can hold your son, if you want." She gives me a grateful glance before handing me the baby and hurrying to the phone.

When she returns, I hand her the baby, and she says, "That was Ganondorf. He just asked me to help him at court."

"Well, are you going to?"

"I don't know."

"Can you at least tell me one thing before I leave? I have other people I need to meet." She nods. "What is Ganondorf's house like?"

She looks confused for a moment, then stands again. She walks over to a small table, picks up a small framed photograph, and hands it to me. "That was taken a month ago."

I spare the photo a glance, and say, "Can I take this? I'll use it as evidence." She nods.

"Thank you very much, Miss Wildern. I appreciate this."

**End of Chapter Four.**


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